-LRB- CNN -RRB- Wildlife services in California are being pushed to their limits this year . Since January 2015 , every month has set a record in sea lion `` strandings , '' mostly sea lion pups , according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration .

`` There has been an unusually high number of sea lions stranded since January , '' said Justin Greenman , assistant stranding coordinator for NOAA on the West Coast . `` Stranding does happen , but just to give you perspective , 1,800 -LSB- sea lion -RSB- pups have been responded to this year alone . We responded to 1,600 strandings total during the entire year in 2013 , '' he said .

Stranding is the official term to describe marine life that `` swim or float into shore and become beached or stuck , '' according to NOAA .

Strandings are taking a toll on the resources available in coastal counties from San Diego to Santa Barbara . Local care facilities have taken in more stranded sea lions this year than 2004-12 combined , and it is only mid-March . Greenman said he expects the problem to continue beyond April , when weaning normally occurs , when the pups are 10 or 11 months old .

Dave Koontz , director of communications for SeaWorld San Diego , said SeaWorld has rescued nearly 500 sea lions this year . `` This is a new record for Sea World , '' Koontz said . `` In 1983 we rescued 474 . ''

Some of the sea lions responded to have had to be euthanized . `` They -LSB- sea lion pups -RSB- have to be able to eat and fish on their own before they can be released back into the wild , and a lot of these pups have n't even been weaned , '' Greenman said .

Greenman said California has had warmer weather than usual this year , and , while NOAA is still conducting studies on the Channel Islands to get a more proven explanation , warmer water drives the food source farther out or deeper into the ocean , where the colder water is . When food is farther away , the mothers are away from the pup too long in search of food , and return with little food or too few nutrients for a growing sea lion .

`` We have been seeing emaciated or dehydrated sea lions show up on beaches , '' Greenman said . However , he said , the species has made a comeback since the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 .

California 's sea lion population has grown to 300,000 from an estimated population of 10,000 in the 1950s , according to the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife .

People who observe stranded sea lions are advised not to touch them or attempt to rescue them , because it can be dangerous and it is illegal . Instead , call any of the rescue agencies listed on NOAA West Coast Region 's website .

If the animal has died , the local dead animal pickup service should be alerted .

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`` There has been an unusually high number of sea lions stranded since January , '' NOAA representative says

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The speculation is mothers are having difficulty finding food , leaving pups alone too long or malnourished